Ayasa: Shadows of Silence Review

Looks Beautiful But Can Frustrate

There is sometimes a sense that my eyes are bigger than my belly when it comes to games. All you need to do is show me some amazing artwork or stunning screenshots of vivid landscapes and beautiful lighting, and my wallet is open, ready to purchase. 

But sometimes, when I get around to playing these games, they may look like a million dollars, yet the gameplay mechanics don’t quite match the visuals. 

Ayasa: Shadows of Silence is an impressive-looking game with an amazing art style and direction. But there are times when the basic mechanics of this platformer become a little annoying. Let me explain.

A Wordless Journey Through A Broken Fantasy World

Since its original release on PC, the game has undergone a number of upgrades and enhancements ahead of its console arrival. It’s a puzzle platformer with stealth elements, very much in the same territory as INSIDE and LIMBO. That’s not a bad thing, as those games are very good company to keep.

The story is told without words, with the visuals doing all the heavy lifting. Thankfully, that aspect of the game is very well executed throughout. There’s an amazing opening sequence that introduces the idea of a destructive war, one that has left this fantasy world in complete disarray.

You play as Ayasa, who wakes up at the beginning of the game with little explanation of who she is or what has happened. TAS is a god-like entity whose realm has been destroyed by darkness, and it’s up to Ayasa to embark on an adventure and gather the remaining light scattered across different realms. These realms represent different aspects of the human condition, so you might find a chapter exploring Greed, while another deals with Hope. As I’ve said, this is a wordless story, leaving much of its meaning open to interpretation through the visuals on display.

Platforming And Stealth Mechanics Let The Game Down

The gameplay is where, for me, Ayasa: Shadows of Silence lets itself down a little. You can run, crouch, jump and interact with objects you find along the way. You’ll also be pushing and pulling crates as you tackle various environmental puzzles. As you progress, Ayasa gains access to special abilities. Without spoiling too much, she can turn invisible for a short time, while another ability allows her to reverse time and restore broken objects. These mechanics add some welcome variation to the puzzles and stealth sections.

There are monsters aplenty, and you won’t be able to fight them directly. Instead, you’ll need to rely on stealth and your abilities to get past them, or simply resort to running as fast as you can. If a monster catches you, it’s a one-hit kill, so be prepared to repeat sections from the last checkpoint time and time again.

The biggest problem I had with the gameplay is that the jumping simply isn’t very good. It’s such a shame because, when making a platformer, you really need to get the jumping right. Here, it feels far too floaty, and I missed my targets so often that when I actually managed to land where I wanted, I couldn’t tell you quite why or how. All this repetition, particularly during the platforming sections, starts to take away from the wonderful atmosphere and storytelling that initially drew me in.

The puzzles work well, though, and there are enough of them to make this one of the more memorable aspects of the game. Some camera angles can occasionally get in the way of solving them, but not enough to break the experience. That’s another shame because there is so much to love here, and hopefully some of these mechanics can be improved through patches to make the game more enjoyable.

A Stunning World And Haunting Soundtrack

Ayasa: Shadows of Silence does an impressive job of creating a wonderful fantasy world to explore. There’s a fantastic sense of scale, with Ayasa often standing beneath enormous structures and statues that inspire a real feeling of awe and wonder. The creature design is excellent, too, with some wonderfully strange creations wandering around the world. The lighting is particularly good, although there are the occasional moments of screen tearing. Nothing too major, though.

The audio is equally impressive, with a superb score that shifts between haunting and frantic depending on the situation Ayasa finds herself in. It’s a perfect complement to this strange world and its haunting beauty.

Could Have Been So Much Better

Ayasa: Shadows of Silence has almost everything I love. It’s a 2.5D puzzle platformer with amazing visuals, wordless storytelling and a lovely soundtrack. But it’s the gameplay that lets it down. The jumping is floaty and inaccurate, leading to plenty of unnecessary deaths. The stealth mechanics aren’t particularly impressive either, resulting in yet more frustration and repetition. Thankfully, the puzzle elements help save the experience for me. 

I still enjoyed playing Ayasa: Shadows of Silence, but I really should have loved it much more.

Important Links

Find Your Light In Ayasa: Shadows Of Silence – https://www.thexboxhub.com/find-your-light-in-ayasa-shadows-of-silence/

Ayasa: Shadow of Silence – A New Platformer Blending Mystery, Horror, and a Touch of Little Nightmares – https://www.thexboxhub.com/ayasa-shadow-of-silence-a-new-platformer-blending-mystery-horror-and-a-touch-of-little-nightmares/

Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.thexboxhub.com/find-your-light-in-ayasa-shadows-of-silence/